Single Season Leaders for On Base Percentage in the American League

The on base percentage statistic was originally created by Branch Rickey and Allan Roth in the 1950s as a means to measure the percentage of times a player reaches any base. The statistic did not originally include the sacrifice fly denomination, but when it was officially adapted in 1984 it appeared using the sacrifice fly. Baseball Almanac is pleased to present the top one-hundred single season American League leaders in on base percentage. We've also included raw averages to further clarify the truly best single season percentages and a bold faced entry denotes that the player was active during the previous Major League season.
"(Tim) McCarver began gushing about (Barry) Bonds's greatness and then, in hyperbole that would have made a used car salesman proud, proclaimed that Barry Bonds is a better baseball player than Ted Williams." - Harold Friend in McCarver's Wrong: Ted Is Better Than Barry (BaseballLibrary.org)
On Base Percentage
Single Season American League Leaders

'Top 100'
Ted Williams .553 (.5528) 1941 Boston Red Sox AL 1
Babe Ruth .545 (.5445) 1923 New York Yankees AL 2
Babe Ruth .532 (.5319) 1920 New York Yankees AL 3
Ted Williams .526 (.5256) 1957 Boston Red Sox AL 4
Babe Ruth .516 (.5156) 1926 New York Yankees AL 5
Ted Williams .513 (.5133) 1954 Boston Red Sox AL 6
Babe Ruth .513 (.5126) 1924 New York Yankees AL 7
Babe Ruth .512 (.5123) 1921 New York Yankees AL 8
Mickey Mantle .512 (.5120) 1957 New York Yankees AL 9
Ted Williams .499 (.4993) 1942 Boston Red Sox AL 10
Ted Williams .499 (.4986) 1947 Boston Red Sox AL 11
Ted Williams .497 (.4970) 1946 Boston Red Sox AL 12
Ted Williams .497 (.4969) 1948 Boston Red Sox AL 13
Babe Ruth .495 (.4947) 1931 New York Yankees AL 14
Babe Ruth .493 (.4931) 1930 New York Yankees AL 15
Ted Williams .490 (.4904) 1949 Boston Red Sox AL 16
Babe Ruth .489 (.4890) 1932 New York Yankees AL 17
Frank Thomas .487 (.4874) 1994 Chicago White Sox AL 18
Norm Cash .487 (.4866) 1961 Detroit Tigers AL 19
Ty Cobb .486 (.4863) 1915 Detroit Tigers AL 20
Babe Ruth .486 (.4860) 1927 New York Yankees AL 21
Tris Speaker .483 (.4832) 1920 Cleveland Indians AL 22
Harry Heilmann .481 (.4809) 1923 Detroit Tigers AL 23
Edgar Martinez .479 (.4789) 1995 Seattle Mariners AL 24
Lou Gehrig .478 (.4777) 1936 New York Yankees AL 25
Jason Giambi .477 (.4769) 2001 Oakland Athletics AL 26
Jason Giambi .476 (.4759) 2000 Oakland Athletics AL 27
Wade Boggs .476 (.4757) 1988 Boston Red Sox AL 28
Harry Heilmann .475 (.4750) 1927 Detroit Tigers AL 29
Lou Gehrig .474 (.4741) 1927 New York Yankees AL 30
Luke Appling .474 (.4739) 1936 Chicago White Sox AL 31
Lou Gehrig .473 (.4730) 1930 New York Yankees AL 32
Lou Gehrig .473 (.4729) 1937 New York Yankees AL 33
John Olerud .473 (.4728) 1993 Toronto Blue Jays AL 34
Tris Speaker .470 (.4699) 1916 Cleveland Indians AL 35
Carlos Delgado .470 (.4698) 2000 Toronto Blue Jays AL 36
Tris Speaker .469 (.4694) 1923 Cleveland Indians AL 37
Jimmie Foxx .469 (.4693) 1932 Philadelphia Athletics AL 38
Joe Jackson .468 (.4677) 1911 Cleveland Naps AL 39
Lou Gehrig .467 (.4675) 1928 New York Yankees AL 40
Mark McGwire .467 (.4672) 1996 Oakland Athletics AL 41
George Sisler .467 (.4671) 1922 St. Louis Browns AL 42
Ty Cobb .467 (.4666) 1911 Detroit Tigers AL 43
Lou Gehrig .466 (.4658) 1935 New York Yankees AL 44
Lou Gehrig .465 (.4652) 1934 New York Yankees AL 45
Jimmie Foxx .464 (.4642) 1939 Boston Red Sox AL 46
Tris Speaker .464 (.4641) 1912 Boston Red Sox AL 47
Mickey Mantle .464 (.4639) 1956 New York Yankees AL 48
Edgar Martinez .464 (.4637) 1996 Seattle Mariners AL 49
Ted Williams .464 (.4637) 1951 Boston Red Sox AL  
Jimmie Foxx .463 (.4630) 1929 Philadelphia Athletics AL 51
Babe Ruth .463 (.4630) 1928 New York Yankees AL  
Nap Lajoie .463 (.4630) 1901 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Jimmie Foxx .462 (.4620) 1938 Boston Red Sox AL 54
Ty Cobb .462 (.4615) 1922 Detroit Tigers AL 55
Wade Boggs .461 (.4610) 1987 Boston Red Sox AL 56
Jimmie Foxx .461 (.4607) 1935 Philadelphia Athletics AL 57
Eddie Collins .460 (.4605) 1915 Chicago White Sox AL 58
Joe Jackson .460 (.4600) 1913 Cleveland Naps AL 59
Frank Thomas .459 (.4592) 1996 Chicago White Sox AL 60
Mickey Cochrane .459 (.4591) 1933 Philadelphia Athletics AL 61
Charlie Gehringer .458 (.4580) 1937 Detroit Tigers AL 62
Joe Jackson .458 (.4577) 1912 Cleveland Naps AL 63
Harry Heilmann .457 (.4571) 1925 Detroit Tigers AL 64
Ty Cobb .456 (.4564) 1910 Detroit Tigers AL 65
Babe Ruth .456 (.4564) 1919 Boston Red Sox AL  
Frank Thomas .456 (.4561) 1997 Chicago White Sox AL 67
Joe Sewell .456 (.4559) 1923 Cleveland Indians AL 68
Ty Cobb .456 (.4559) 1912 Detroit Tigers AL  
Edgar Martinez .456 (.4558) 1997 Seattle Mariners AL 70
Eddie Collins .455 (.4553) 1923 Chicago White Sox AL 71
Frank Thomas .454 (.4544) 1995 Chicago White Sox AL 72
Lou Boudreau .453 (.4530) 1948 Cleveland Indians AL 73
Frank Thomas .453 (.4529) 1991 Chicago White Sox AL 74
Wade Boggs .453 (.4528) 1986 Boston Red Sox AL 75
Ty Cobb .452 (.4523) 1921 Detroit Tigers AL 76
Carl Yastrzemski .452 (.4519) 1970 Boston Red Sox AL 77
Roy Cullenbine .452 (.4519) 1941 St. Louis Browns AL  
Ty Cobb .452 (.4518) 1916 Detroit Tigers AL 79
Eddie Collins .452 (.4515) 1914 Philadelphia Athletics AL 80
Lou Gehrig .451 (.4512) 1932 New York Yankees AL 81
Eddie Collins .451 (.4509) 1911 Philadelphia Athletics AL 82
Ed Morgan .451 (.4505) 1931 Cleveland Indians AL 83
Wade Boggs .450 (.4503) 1985 Boston Red Sox AL 84
Eddie Collins .450 (.4503) 1912 Philadelphia Athletics AL  
Jim Thome .450 (.4497) 1996 Cleveland Indians AL 86
Charlie Gehringer .450 (.4495) 1934 Detroit Tigers AL 87
Jimmie Foxx .449 (.4493) 1933 Philadelphia Athletics AL 88
George Sisler .449 (.4492) 1920 St. Louis Browns AL 89
Rod Carew .449 (.4488) 1977 Minnesota Twins AL 90
Jimmie Foxx .449 (.4485) 1934 Philadelphia Athletics AL 91
Mickey Mantle .448 (.4481) 1961 New York Yankees AL 92
Chuck Knoblauch .448 (.4479) 1996 Minnesota Twins AL 93
Edgar Martinez .447 (.4474) 1999 Seattle Mariners AL 94
Lou Gehrig .446 (.4457) 1931 New York Yankees AL 95
Jim Thome .445 (.4454) 2002 Cleveland Indians AL 96
David Ortiz .445 (.4453) 2007 Boston Red Sox AL 97
Nap Lajoie .445 (.4451) 1910 Cleveland Naps AL 98
Harry Heilmann .445 (.4450) 1926 Detroit Tigers AL 99
Harry Heilmann .444 (.4444) 1921 Detroit Tigers AL 100
Current Through 2009 Season


Take a close look at number one through twenty. Did you realize that Babe Ruth & Ted Williams were that dominant and that the only others in the top twenty are Norm Cash (once), Ty Cobb (once) Mickey Mantle (once) & Frank Thomas (once)?

The code to write the single season on base percentage league splits was developed in 2005, launched during 2006 and made possible by your support — please continue helping us create these kinds of pages by supporting our site.

The National League single season record for on base percentage was set in 2004 by Barry Bonds of the San Francisco Giants. The American League single season record for on base percentage is on this page. Is either the Career Leader for On Base Percentage?
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